


A Little Fever

by Brb-Rope (yetiamwell)



Category: Generator Rex
Genre: Chibi, Fluff, Gen, Gift Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Reading Aloud, c - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-24 17:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/265821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetiamwell/pseuds/Brb-Rope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>The nanites inside of Six have a peculiar reaction to his getting sick.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Fever

**Author's Note:**

>   
> **Title:** A Little Fever  
>  **Author:** [](http://brb-rope.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**brb_rope**](http://brb-rope.dreamwidth.org/)  
>  **Beta:** [](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=wren_chan)[**wren_chan**](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=wren_chan)  
>  **Summary:** _The nanites inside of Six have a peculiar reaction to his getting sick._  
>  **Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimers apply. Not mine, no profit, just borrowing from Men of Action  
>  **Authors Note:** For [](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=cybra2003)[**cybra2003**](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=cybra2003) , during the Generator Rex Lj Secret Santa. She wanted 'A character is sick' especially with Six.

* * *

  


  
_The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.  
-William Shakespeare _   


  


* * *

“Doc!” Rex ran up behind his caretaker. “Doc! What’s going on? They said I couldn’t join the mission.” They were stomping EVO butt, and weren’t allowing him on the transport at all. And Six was strangely gone, leaving Rex at loose ends as to what to do.

“Sorry, Rex.” The rest of Doc Holiday’s apology was lost as he realised that the doctor was carrying something in her arms.

Some _one_ , more specifically.

“Hey.” He leaned forward, inspecting the small person draped around her neck. It was a boy, or at least Rex though it was a boy. Maybe around six years old, dressed in nothing but an adult’s white button down shirt, tiny thin legs dangling from Holiday’s grasp.

The kid had a pair of sunglasses draped across his face, and Six’s folded swords in his hands. “… I didn’t know Six had a kid.”

Doc Holiday huffed. “The kid _is_ Six, Rex.” She said in a long suffering tone and he realised that he’d tuned out her saying it the first time.

“Huh?” Rex raised his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on.” Holiday sighed, turning and walking back down the hallway. Rex shook his head and followed, watching as the kid… Six… let out a soft sigh and nuzzled Holiday’s neck before letting out a soft snore. It was unbearably cute.

And disturbing.

Six did **_not_** snuggle. The thought kept him off balance enough to stay quiet as he followed her back to the labs. He held the door open for her as she carried the small boy in, carefully setting him down on one of the bio beds. The swords were gently pried from his surprisingly tight grip and set on the table next to the bed.

“Glasses?” He questioned softly. He got a sarcastic quirk of the lips and and upraised eyebrow, as if to say he really should know better than that.

Doc Holiday pulled some of the blankets from the foot of the bed, tucking Six in. She rested her hand against Six’s forehead before running her fingers through his fine black hair.

There was a tender expression on Holiday’s face that made Rex wonder if she ever wanted to have kids of her own. Then she turned away and her professional mask was back on as she quietly and efficiently shooed him out of the room.

“Okay.” Rex said, feeling more than a little creeped out. “What’s going on here?”

“As you know, the nanites react to each person differently.” Holiday said in her best doctor lecture mode. “Usually they’re inactive, but in Six’s case, the nanites become active if his core body temperature rises above 99.5 Fahrenheit.”

“… So… like…” When he got too close to a fire?

“Like when he has a fever.” Holiday smirked at him. “His body temperature usually runs a little cool, but within average for a human. So every time he gets sick, his temperature spikes and-”

“Suddenly he’s six years old again.” A lightbulb went off in Rex’s head.

“Exactly.” Holiday nodded. “Normally, he just hides in his rooms whenever he’s sick, but he was caught unprepared this time.”

And Holiday, being Holiday, went to go get Six and tuck him into bed. They had this weird relationship… thing… vibe that Rex didn’t want to think too deeply about going on.

“Oh.” Rex fidgeted. “So… um. What do you do? When you’re sick?” He’d heard about it from other people, but other than when he had too many nanites, he didn’t get ill.

He was pretty sure people died from getting sick. He didn’t want Six to die.

“Mostly sleep a lot.” Holiday patted Rex on the shoulder. “It’s just a cold. He’ll be fine.”

Rex summoned up a weak smile. “Right.” Because Six was a tiny sleepy helpless six year old. And nothing ever happened at Providence. Ever. At all. It was always so _quiet_ around here.

“Why don’t you go hang out with Noah for a while?” Holiday suggested, giving him a small shove out the door.

“But-”

“Go.” She said firmly, getting him out into the hallway and shutting the door behind him. Rex stared back, uncertain as to what to do. He didn’t want to just _leave_ Six like this, but Holiday wasn’t letting him in, and it wasn’t as if he could fight the common cold with his fists.

How did one fight a cold anyway? It wasn’t like he could just catch it and break its little neck.

Shoving his hands in his pockets and frowning darkly, he wandered off to go call Noah. He needed some normal advice.

* * *

“A _cold_?!” Noah’s incredulous voice went up in pitch at the end. “Six caught a cold? As in major badass Agent Six?”

“Yup.” Rex stared up at the ceiling. On the other side of the room, Bobo cackled at something happening on the television. “What do you do when you’re sick?”

There was a slightly awkward pause on the line and Rex almost checked to make sure they hadn’t been disconnected. “You’ve never been sick?” Noah finally asked, sounding unsure.

“Not as far as I can remember.” Rex admitted. Which admittedly, wasn’t all that far back. Maybe he had been, he didn’t know. More questions to ask.

“Oh.” Noah cleared his throat. “Well, usually I get to stay home from school, drink lots of fluids, tea or orange juice mostly if it’s a cold. Ginger Ale if it’s a stomach thing, and sleep. Or read a book if I’m tired but don’t have the energy for anything else. Oh! And chicken soup is supposed to help.”

“Chicken soup, huh?” Rex glanced over at Bobo. “Okay. Thanks, Noah.”

“Anytime. Later, Rex.” Noah said just as Rex cut the connection, rolling to his feet.

“Hey, Bobo!” He called. “Road trip?”

Bobo glanced over. “Where to, kid?”

“Grocery store.”

The monkey’s lower lip came out, almost in a pout. “You’re kiddin’.”

“Nope.”

“You’re wasting a jail break on a grocery store run?”

Rex shrugged. “You got anything better to do?” It wasn’t like Six was going to be able to stop them anyway.

“Nope.” Bobo threw the remote over his shoulder. “Which one you wanna go to?”

It was nice to have friends he could depend on.

* * *

Sneaking into the medical wing without the guards or Holiday catching him took a bit of work, even more so when one was carrying a full tray of food, but Rex managed it with only a little bit of trickery. It was amazing sometimes how pointing in a random direction and shouting ‘Look! An Obvious Distraction!’ actually worked.

It was really disconcerting, watching Six as a six year old. His skin was flushed, both pale and red at the same time. A fine sheen of sweat on his forehead made his usually neat hair stick to his skin, and spike up on top. His breathing was rapid and he made occasional little wheezing coughing noises that sounded really pathetic and made Rex want to do something to make it better.

Then there was the whole ‘six year old’ thing. Rounded face, no facial hair. Six looked… small. Vulnerable. Rex didn’t like it.

So he sat next to the bed, reading a book Noah had loaned him a while back and started reading, looking up every once in a while to make sure that nothing was going to attack his guardian. He thought he saw Holiday peek in a few times, but she vanished so quickly he wasn’t sure if he was just imagining it or not.

After an hour or so, Six woke up. Or at least, Rex thought Six woke up, it was kind of hard to tell with the dark sunglasses still on his face. He waited, almost holding his breath as Six’s head turned towards Rex, a limp hand flapping in his direction.

“Rex?” Six finally croaked and Rex breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hi.” Rex smiled. “How are you feeling?”

Six sat up, coughing into a fist. “Lousy.” He growled, voice cracking part way through in a way that made something in Rex relax. Six was still Six, even if he was six years old. He passed Six a box of tissues, who grabbed a handful and blew his nose with a loud honking sound. “What are you doing here?” Six demanded.

It wasn’t nearly as intimidating coming from a small boy. Especially a small boy with a runny nose.

Rex held up the book. “Reading.” He said, as if he needed an excuse to visit Six. Which, really, maybe he did, so it was a good thing he had it. “I brought chicken soup too. And orange juice. With real oranges. Straight out of the carton.”

One of Six’s eyebrows rose over the dark glasses. “What state is the kitchen in?” His guardian inquired before coughing again, a wet hacking sound. He spit into the handful of tissues, grimaced, then grabbed a new handful.

“It’s out of a can.” Rex assured him, holding up the rubbish bin and setting it back down where Six could reach it. “Bobo thought it’d be better that way. Although I thought it was a bit bland and added oregano, pepper and chili powder. Just a little bit, give it some flavour.”

Other than chicken. Everything tasted like chicken. Especially chicken. And frog’s legs.

Six threw the used tissues away as Rex rose, pushing the lap table over the bed and grabbing the tray with the soup and the juice on it. He set it down in front of his guardian and Six gave the decidedly reddish soup an odd look. With a quirk of the eyebrows, Six picked up the spoon and took a cautious sip of the still warm broth.

“Not bad.” He decreed. “You’re right, chicken soup usually is pretty bland.”

Rex beamed happily back, taking his seat again, watching Six eat the soup. He wasn’t sure why chicken soup was supposed to make people better, but Six seemed to think so too. Some sort of weird chicken property? Would fried chicken work too? He’d have to ask on this.

Six coughed occasionally, covering his face with the tissues as he did so, eating most of the soup before pushing it away. “I’m full.” He announced, leaning back against the pillows in a boneless flop. “Thank you, Rex.”

“No problemo.” Rex grinned back. It was still weird, seeing Six’s mannerisms in a small body. But it was still obviously Six.

Six lay there, chest rising up and down as he wheezed, coughing occasionally into the tissues. “What are you reading?” He finally inquired as Rex tried hard not to stare.

“Huh? Oh!” He held the book up. “Harry Potter. Noah was flabbergasted when he heard I’d never read it, so he loaned me the first couple of books. Apparently it gets really dark after book four, but he recommended the first three.”

“Heard of it.” Six admitted, making himself more comfortable against the pillows. “Read it to me?”

Rex did a double take. “Really?”

“Why not?” Six shrugged one tiny shoulder. “Better than watching television.”

“True.” Rex flipped back a few pages to the beginning of the chapter. "Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful-"

He read until his voice was slightly hoarse, and Six was fast asleep next to him, glasses slightly askew on his round face.

* * *

Holiday stopped by, waking Six long enough to check his temperature and make him drink some of the orange juice to wash down some fever reducer. Rex ducked his head behind his book and Holiday pretended not to see him, although she did smirk at him when he peeked around it before she left. Apparently as long as he stayed out of the way and didn’t bother Six, it was okay.

He had no doubts that if his presence became a hindrance or bothered Six, he’d be thrown out on his ear in no time, so he stayed quiet, reading the book. It was better than he'd expected; he had some questions to ask Noah later

Six woke a couple more times, drank some of the juice and would stare at nothing for a while in a fever filled haze. Sometimes he’d go back to sleep without a word, other times he’d ask Rex to read more of the book outloud before drifting off again.

Rex had just gotten to Harry, Hermione and Ron sneaking past the giant three headed dog when Six made a strange noise, curling up into a tight little ball, clutching his chest.

“Six?” Rex was on his feet. “Six? You okay?” He asked, resting a hand on Six’s thin arm. He jerked his hand away when the heat of Six’s skin through the white shirt nearly burned him. “SIX!”

Alarms started blaring as wisps of white… something start to rise from Six’s body, like steam or smoke. “DOC!” Rex shouted instead, backing up as Six groaned, then started to convulse. He opened the door to the room, bellowing down the corridor. “ **HOLIDAY!!!** ”

A flurry of footsteps thudded his way, Holiday leading the charge. “Fever broke.” She muttered as she raced past him to Six’s bedside.

Rex pressed himself up against the wall as Six made a noise like someone was trying to rip his heart out of his chest. Holiday started shouting orders, getting readings and samples, her sharp voice in contrast to the gentle way she touched Six, trying to get him to uncurl.

Six groaned out Holiday’s name, head turning in her direction. The groan turned into a gasp as suddenly it seemed like Six was trying to explode out of his skin. There was a rush, and suddenly Six was bigger, older. And again, like a second heartbeat, and suddenly Six was looking like he was twelve.

And again, and again and again, each size increase accompanied by a long gut wrenching cry of pain.

It was over in seconds, although it felt longer than that. Holiday swept a blanket around Six, who stayed curled in a ball, one hand pressed against his head, the other still clutching his chest as he breathed, loud gasping pants for breath.

Holiday wrapped her fingers around his wrist, checking his pulse as they all waited.

“I’m fine.” Six finally got out, pushing himself off the bed and into a sitting position. He didn’t look fine though, he looked like he’d just gone several rounds with a giant nasty EVO and gotten his butt handed to him.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Holiday informed him. “You know that transforming is bad for your heart. It has to keep beating, even through the mass shift.”

Six snorted. “I’ll _be_ fine.” He amended. Six’s tone was dismissive, but he didn’t protest Holiday’s pokes and prods. He seemed to notice Rex. “You okay there, kid?”

“I’m good.” Rex nodded as Holiday snapped on a pair of gloves. “I’ll… just check up on you later, okay?”

Six nodded, dismissal clear in his posture. Rex nodded back and slipped out the door, heading back to his rooms.

He never, ever wanted to see that again.

* * *

Six was still in the medwing when Rex stopped by to check on him again. There may or may not have been a chain attached to the end of the bed disappearing under the blankets in the vicinity of Six's ankle that Rex wasn’t going to question too heavily. Holiday was Queen of her domain, until she decided to let you out.

“How are you feeling?” Rex asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Six still looked a little feverish, but at least he wasn’t six years old anymore.

“Better.” Six said, then coughed, spitting into a tissue. “Holiday assures me she’ll release me tomorrow afternoon for light duties if I sleep most of this off.”

“And we both know better than to mess with the Doc.” Rex said with a weak grin.

Six looked at Rex for a minute. “I’ll be fine.” He assured Rex. “I’ve fought in my other form before, with a fever. I’ll be as good as new in a few days.”

Rex shrugged. “Still doesn’t mean I like it when yo- people around me get sick.” It made him feel weak and helpless. There wasn’t much he could do. It wasn’t an EVO or an enemy he could fight with his fists.

One of Six’s eyebrows quirked up, just a little. “The soup helped.” He offered, then hesitated for a moment. “What ended up happening with Harry, Ron and what was her name?”

“Hermione.” Rex supplied. “They beat the bad guy. For now. According to Noah, it takes all seven books to really defeat him.”

“Hrm.” Six leaned back in the bed. “Read it to me?”

Rex’s eyebrows went up. “Seriously?”

“Why not?”

“Well… I thought…” Rex fumbled for the words. “You’d be bored or something.” It was a kids book after all.

“Nope.” Six said, gesturing to the chair Rex had been sitting at earlier. “Read. I’ll probably fall asleep part way through. Don’t take it as an insult.”

“Okay.” Rex sat down at his chair, picking up the book he’d dropped earlier and flipping back to the start of the chapter he’d been reading before Six had changed back. Six would probably tell anyone who asked that it gave Rex something to do besides worry over him, but that was okay too. Six had an odd way of showing that he cared sometimes.

“In the years to come,” Rex read outloud as Six settled himself against the pillows, folding his hands over his belly, and relaxed. “Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment-”

-fin-

* * *

**Author's Note:**

>  _Since I know that Cybra is a Detective Conan fan, couldn't help but to play around with that, especially since Conan is more likely to change back into Shinichi when he has a fever. Couldn't quite fit in Hattori and the Paikaru Chinese alcohol however.  
>  That and Six as a six-year old was too cute to resist.  
> Thanks to Ellen Brand for help with the name._
> 
>  _  
>  Excerpts used from 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. No profit is being made nor copyright infringement is intended.    
> _


End file.
